The Self-Care World Tour: Spring 2018 - Day 1 (Reflections and Grounding)

So, I had finally done it. After constantly admiring friends and acquaintances who somehow always find themselves on some flight in some country doing something amazing, I booked a trip. Thanks to a dope website, secretflying.com, I found out about a flight deal between JFK and CAI, with a layover in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for only $390 round trip. Thanks to the spring break schedule for my job, March 17-24 was a perfect time frame to get away and expose myself to some international travel. Egypt fell upon me by a complete accident, but after reflecting on where I am in my life right now, it makes perfect sense. Here, in the River Nile Valley one of the greatest civilizations featuring black and brown people sprung to existence. Here, statues depict people that look like me and had some of the same ethnographic struggles as me. I am home in many ways. What makes this trip even better is that I am traveling with one of my line brothers, my deuce, Joshua. The unique thing about a fraternity is that no matter how many years pass, or how long you may not see someone; the ability to reconnect and feel like blood brothers comes naturally. Joshua and I have grown progressively closer over the years and this trip, for me, seems to solidify why we joined Alpha to begin with. The willingness to be present for another man of color. I literally told Joshua three months ago about this trip, and he was willing and able to make it happen with me. While this may seem small, it meant the world to me because I would not have to travel 5,600 miles from home alone and all of the growth I would engage in here would be met with a brother who could help me process what I was seeing and thinking.

Now of course, I am sure you are wondering...what is he even going there to reflect on or, do? Well it is pretty simple. I wanted to come to Africa generally because I spend so much time in my life moving through spaces in which I am made to feel and operate like a minority, whereas here I feel like I am a piece of something bigger and a part of a greater good. Egypt, as aforementioned, has so many legacies to the past that I wanted to experience for myself opposed to reading or viewing through another person's gaze. But what do I really want to learn about? Myself and how I move in the world. I have for the first time in my life, financed an opportunity to control what I see and when I see it. So now, I can only hope to grow and learn from the environment around me. Let's see what I discover.